Passings: Producer & Entertainer David Gest (1953 - 2016)

He was found unresponsive in his room at the Four Seasons hotel in London on Tuesday and was subsequently declared dead at the scene.

A statement released by officials at the Metropolitan Police reads: "Police were called at 10:17hrs on Tuesday 12 April to the Four Seasons hotel, in Westferry Circus, E14, to reports of an unexplained death of a man in his 60s. London Ambulance Service were called to the scene. Life was pronounced extinct at the hotel.

"A post-mortem will be held in due course. Next of kin are in the process of being informed."

Gest was a close childhood friend of Michael Jackson's and produced the TV special Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration: The Solo Years in 2001, marking the last onstage reunion of the King of Pop and his brothers from the Jackson 5.

He wed entertainer Liza Minnelli in 2002, but they divorced in 2007.

In his latter years, he became known as a TV personality in the U.K., with stints on British reality shows I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother, which he featured on in January of this year. He had to quit the show on medical grounds after just 13 days.

Patrick Simmons of the Doobie Brothers has issued a statement on the passing of Gest:

“I was so sorry to hear the news of David’s passing. He worked for The Doobie Brothers for many years from the mid-70s into the 80s as our public relations representative. A funny, creative person with whom I became close friends. He did a great job for us, and I remained friends with him through the years. I hadn’t spoken to him in a long time, but he and I would always call each other out of the blue, and I always was expecting that call at any moment. I’m sorry I didn’t get to speak with him one last time. Rest in peace my friend.”